Greysexual, Greyasexual, or Grey-Asexual and sometimes shortened as Grace or Grey-Ace (also spelled with Gray instead of Grey) is a sexual orientation for those who relate with Asexuality, yet feel that there are parts of their experience that aren't fully described by the word Asexual.
It is an orientation under the A-spec umbrella, specifically Ace-spec. In itself, Greysexual can be used as its own identity or as an umbrella term for Ace-spec orientations that are not strictly Asexual (Greyspec).
Some Greysexual experiences may include:
- Experiencing sexual attraction infrequently.
- Experiencing sexual attraction frequently but not as frequent as Allosexual people.
- Experience sexual attraction very weakly.
- Feeling sexual attraction but not desiring sex or a sexual relationship.
- Feeling unsure about how to identify sexual attraction or how to draw the line between sexual and non-sexual, and consequently feeling unsure about having experienced it or not.
- Experiencing attraction that is only ambiguously sexual.
- Feeling alienated from romance.
- Feeling attraction only in specific circumstances.
- Finding Asexuality a useful idea, even if it isn't a perfect fit.
Greysexual can also be combined with other sexual orientations. For example, one could be greysexual and Bisexual (Greybisexual), meaning that one rarely experiences sexual attraction, but when they do it's towards two or more genders.
Contents
History
The concept of Greysexuality developed in the early 2000s on the AVEN forums.[1] In 2003, an AVEN member proposed the concept of "Semisexuality," naming a half-way point between being Asexual and not.
Later, in April 12, 2006, AVEN member KSpaz proposed the term "Gray-A" to describe the "fuzzy" space in the Asexual Spectrum.[2]
Related Terms
Subsets
- Demisexual
- Fraysexual
- Lightgreysexual
For a more comprehensive list, see Category:Greyspec
See Also
- Greyromantic
- Grey-
- Greyspec
Gallery
Flags
The Greysexual flag was designed by Milith Rusignuolo and was uploaded to Wikipedia on June 21, 2013.[3] It was supposed to be symbolic of someone starting out with no sexual attraction, represented by purple representing Asexuality, then entering a single episode of it attraction ('grey to white) with white representing Allosexuality from the Asexual flag, and then going back to being Asexual.
An alternate Greysexual flag was designed by Reddit user u/AkidIguess on November 22, 2020. The user and the post itself has since been deleted.[4]
On December 3rd, 2020 a second Greyasexual flag was coined by Angel of Wikia user Cryptocrew. The darker shades represent occasional sexual attraction, the mid-way shades represent being on the Asexual Spectrum, the lightest shades represent feeling no sexual attraction, and the white represents community.[5][6]
The third alternate Greysexual flag was designed by Reddit user u/adeltae on April 19, 2021. The black represents no sexual attraction, the dark grey represents very little sexual attraction, the purple' represents conditional sexual attraction, the light grey represents some sexual attraction, but not as much as Allosexual people, and the white represents community.[7][8]
Two Grey-Ace flags were created by Reddit user U/droppedyourcutlery on June 25, 2021.[9] One has it's purple as the outer stripes and one has the purple as the middle stripe.
On June 27, 2021, another flag was submitted by Nyoomster on the LGBTA wikia discord. The flag recaptures the feeling that comes with being in a grey zone, signalised by the grey borders surrounding the purple colors of the Ace Spectrum. The purples have been given a slightly darker and refined shade to hint at the uncertainty that may come with being Greysexual and to give it a more modern and easy to recognise look.
Coining
| “ | Alright, so don't know if this term is already around, but if not, I'm coining it now. Gray-A |
| — KSpaz, AVEN April 2006 |
Sources
- ↑ The development of Gray Asexuality and Demisexuality as identity terms
- ↑ Gray-A's coining by KSpaz
- ↑ Milith Rusignuolo's flags, Archived
- ↑ u/AkidIguess' Greysexual flag, Deleted
- ↑ Angel of Cryptocrew's Greysexual flag
- ↑ Angel of Cryptocrew's Greysexual flag, Archived
- ↑ U/adeltae's Greysexual flag
- ↑ u/adeltae's Greysexual flag, Archived
- ↑ U/droppedyourcutlery's two Gray-Ace flags, Archived